Customer Reviews

73 North

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A reissue of a book written in 1957 about what now seems an obscure and indecisive clash in the winter sea off Norway at the begining of 1943 prompts the question why ? The reason can only be to remember the courage and endurance of the men involved and their devotion to duty. Dudley Pope pulled no punches in describing the terrible physical hardships of duty on board the warships and merchant vessels of the day in such conditions. He is also very frank in talking of the underlying fear that stuggled in the heart of every man with his conception of himself. Yet, there was one difference between the two sides, as Pope makes clear.

Every British warship officer and seaman knew their duty very clearly, to defend the convoy JW51B at whatever cost. This meant taking a slowly sinking destroyer Achates, crowded with dead and wounded, commanded by a very junior officer,to the proper screening position no matter what. This meant the fleet destroyer screen commander, a position rotating to whoever was still unwounded with an intact ship, constantly interposing his small sqadron between the convoy and the german heavy cruiser Hipper. However the minds of the Germans, most especially their commanders werer not so well concentrated on an aim. Was it to destroy the convoy or to preserve their fleet in being ? Their skills deteriorated by long stays in harbor and their confidence undermined by equivocal orders from Hitler and the Naval High Command the German flag officer and cruiser captains put in an inglorious performance.

Pope invokes great descriptive powers in depicting the effects of exceedingly poor visibility in the few hours of half light available. The radar available was of great value and used skillfully by both sides but by no means gave the God's eye view we would now assume to be the case. A mixture of boldness and caution was required and the British commanders found the right balance and the German commanders did not.

The most powerful effect of the book is the way Pope used inteviews with the surviving British particpants to create a powerful testimony to the skill and resolution of the Royal Navy in 1943. Yet he does not ignore the human cost on the other side. He says the crew of the Freidrich Eckholdt " must have had a dreadful struggle" Indeed so, as their ship was last seen by human eyes on fire from stem to stern after dozens of 6 inch shell hits and not one man survived to tell the story of their frightful end, finally consumed by fire or water.

The afteraction consideration of the Furhrer decision to close down the German surface fleet after this action appears from the hindsight of sixty years to be of little consequence. What is of consequence is the continued testimony that men can bring themselves to the point of sacrificial bravery. Every ship of convoy JW51B made it safely to port. Each man on each one of those ships owed his life to the ability of the escort forces to bear every burden, pay every price. That is what seems important to remember now.

In addition to coming from a ship-owning family, author and naval historian Dudley Pope was also a former naval officer who was injured during the Battle of the Atlantic. To this work, therefore, he brings a knowledge and understanding of the subject in addition to providing the reader with a truly gripping account of the grim reality of War at Sea.

In 73 North, Pope recounts the factual tale of a small detachment of British Destroyers which, during WW2 whilst escorting a convoy to Russia, came under attack by a German cruiser group with their own destroyer escort. Although outnumbered and out-gunned, they acquitted themselves in heroic fashion.

In order to underline the way in which this work marks Pope as one of the most proficient wordsmiths ever to put pen to paper and relive a naval battle, I will provide a brief example of the way in which he describes the direct hit on the bridge of the Flotilla Leader, HMS Onslow. With dead and injured all around, one of the officers steps forward to issue commands until he hears someone clear his throat and discovers his captain (Captain Sherbrooke) is alive after all and standing right behind him. Later the doctor is called to the bridge and, quite simply, the following says it all; "He found Sherbrooke, blood streaming from his face, standing against the binnacle. By the flickering light of the flames it took only a few seconds to see that a splinter had smashed his left cheekbone, nose and the left side of his forehead and that his left eye was hanging down his cheek."

There is, however, so much more to this tale than just an accurate blow-by-blow account of such a trying ordeal. For me it was the way in which the doctor who, in a state of complete terror and with knees knocking, explained the overall sense of loss felt when Sherbrooke became injured. This reminded of a similar account from another author when the CO of 2 Para at Arnhem (Lt Colonel John Frost) - another marvellous leader who also seemed so utterly invincible until wounded.

This a great account of the Battle of the Barents Sea and one which should not be overlooked by anyone with an interest in learning what exactly happened.

NM

I bought this as a gift for my father, his father was in the merchant navy and part of the arctic convoys. He said he couldn't put it down but also he didn't want it to end.

I read 'Battle of the River Plate' by this author when I was in my teens over 40 years ago. It impressed me that much that I read it twice and I hardly read any books at that time in my life. I discovered this book by accident, after a google search looking for information about my dad's time in the British navy during tha war. I did a search on the name of the Destroyer that he served on - HMS Orwell. The book is so well written and detailed that reading it, was almost like being there at the time. I couldn't put it down until I got to the end. I wish I'd known about this book before.

Picture yourself in an unlight freezer accompanied by your friends but knowing that there were an unknown number of bad guys also there. All are armed to the teeth. You see a darker shape here and a gun flash there but you don't know who is who. At the same time you are soaking wet and frozen to the bone. That sets the scene for Pope's narrative of the Battle of the Barent's Sea. As you read it, remember that this author is not just relating interview information... he was actually there. An excellent narrative that will have a permanent place on my bookshelf.